Blog of the Archdiocese of Washington
The Feast Yesterday of the Presentation of Jesus was a rich fare. In my homily I did not have time to cover all I wanted to. Frankly, the moment of the Presentation was one of the most dramatic in Biblical history, and yet almost no one noticed. Lets consider this astonishing moment. The first part …
Continue reading “A Dramatic Biblical Moment that almost Every one Missed”
In the ancient Church, and until rather recently, we genuflected at the two references to the incarnation in the Mass: at the Creed and at the Last Gospel (John 1). Why did we do this? It was explained to me that the mystery was so deep that one could only fall in silent reverence. There …
Continue reading “Some Paradoxes and Mysteries of the Incarnation”
I. The Paradox of this Night – In a way, we are too familiar with the Christmas story, and so many of its strange paradoxes and stunning “absurdities” fail to shock and amaze us. And yet it does not take long to consider that no human being would ever craft this sort of entrance of …
Continue reading “The Humility that Heals – A Homily for Christmas”
Maybe I’m just not listening to the news enough, but I haven’t heard a lot about the Christmas wars this year. These are the annual wars wherein a Christian seeks to put up some display of Christmas, be it a creche or Christmas tree, and soon various atheists or civil liberties groups lodge protests or …
Recently there was a discussion on my Facebook page about Church music. My parish, Holy Comforter-St. Cyprian, here in Washington DC, was featured on EWTN’s nightly news (video is below), and discussion centered on that report. Among the many forms of music we use here the parish, gospel music is predominant at our 11:00 AM …
Continue reading “What is Sacred Music? Historically it’s a bit more complex than you may think.”
Part of the Genius of the African American Spirituals is their ability to treat of serious themes, such as the final judgment, in a creatively compelling manner that steered a middle course between unproductive fear and prideful presumption. Some of them are even playful saying things like, I would not be a sinner, I’ll tell …
There is a line in the Letter to the Hebrews which reads: You made [Jesus] for a little while lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor, subjecting all things under his feet.” In “subjecting” all things (to him), he left nothing not “subject to him.” Yet at present we do not …
Continue reading “How is the “Weakness” of God Stronger than Satan’s “Power?””
In yesterday’s (Sunday) Gospel, the good thief on the cross rebukes the bad thief at the other side of Jesus with a very poignant question, Have you no fear of God?. Now this question is very well addressed to us as well; especially those of us who live in this modern age, so often marked …
Continue reading “Have You No fear of God?! A Meditation on the Need to Recover Salutary Fear.”